MEMS are commonly fabricated on silicon (Si) or silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, much as standard integrated circuits are. However, MEMS devices include moving parts on the wafers as well as electrical components. Examples of MEMS devices include gyroscopes, accelerometers, and microphones. MEMS devices are commonly designed and simulated, and then laid out. The layout process provides data used by a wafer fab to produce the devices. MEMS devices are commonly very time-intensive to design and lay out. There is, therefore, a need for ways of accelerating or otherwise improving the design and layout processes of MEMS devices. US20070194225 by Zorn describes using genetic algorithms to evolve circuits used with MEMS components, but not the MEMS themselves. U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,191 to Koza et al. describes using genetic operations to evolve circuits, but does not consider MEMS devices. US20060225003 by Agogino et al. generates designs and requests human input.
Reference is made to the following:    [1] Agogino, A., Kamalian, R., and Zhou, N., “A Comparison of MEMS Synthesis Techniques,” Proceedings of the 1st Pacific Rim Workshop on Transducers and Micro/Nano Technologies, pp. 239-242, 2002.    [2] Kamalian, R., Takagi, H., and Agogino, A., “Optimized design of MEMS by evolutionary multi-objective optimization with interactive evolutionary computation,” Proc. Genetic Evol. Comput. Conf., Seattle, Wash., June 2004, pp. 1030-1041.    [3] Koza, J., Bennett III, F. H., Lohn J., Dunlap, F., Keane M. A., and Andre, D. “Automated Synthesis of Computational Circuits Using Genetic Programming,” Proc. of Second Annual Genetic Programming Conference, Stanford, Jul. 13-16, 1997.    [4] Fan, Z., Seo, K., Hu, J., Rosenberg, R., and Goodman, E.: “System-Level Synthesis of MEMS via Genetic Programming and Bond Graphs,” Genetic and Evolutionary Computing Conf., Chicago, Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, July, 2003. pp. 2058-2071.    [5] Li, H. and Antonsson, E. K.: “Evolutionary Techniques in MEMS Synthesis,” 25th Biennial Mechanisms Conf., ASME Design Engineering Technical Conf., Atlanta, Ga., 1998.    [6] Lohn, J. D., Kraus, W. F. and Hornby, G. S. “Automated Design of a MEMS Resonator”, Proceedings of the Congress on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 3486-3491, 2007.    [7] Zhou, N., Agogino, A., and Pister, K. S. J. “Automated Design Synthesis for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS),” Proc. of ASME Design Automation Conference, Montreal, Canada, September-October, 2002.    Zhang, Y. “MEMS Design Synthesis and Optimization.” Published online, November 2004.
Reference is also made to:    U.S. Pat. No. 6,925,390 to Staats.    Liang, Y. “MEMS Pro V3 Component Design Tools.” Mar. 6, 2002.    PhoeniX B. V. “MaskEngineer.” Published online, August 2010.    softMEMS. “MEMS Pro v6.0.” Published online, May 2010
Reference is also made to:    [B1] A. Lawrence, “Modern Inertial Technology, Springer-Verlag,” New York, 1998.    [B2] D. S. Eddy, D. R. Sparks, “Application of MEMS technology in automotive sensors and actuators,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 86, no. 8, pp. 1747-1755, August 1998.    [B3] Y. Yazdi, F. Ayazi, and K. Najafi, “Micromachined inertial sensors,” Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 86, no. 8, pp. 1640-1659, 1998.    [B4] S. E. Alper, T. Akin. “A Single-Crystal Silicon Symmetrical and Decoupled MEMS Gyroscope on an Insulating Substrate,” Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems vol. 14, no. 4, August 2005    [B5] J. V. Clark, K. S. J. Pister, “Modeling, Simulation, and Verification of an Advanced Micromirror Using SUGAR”, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 1524-1536, December, 2007.    [B6] J. V. Clark, N. Zhou, D. Bindel, etc., “3D MEMS Simulation Modeling Using Modified Nodal Analysis,” Proceedings of the Microscale Systems Mechanics and Measurements Symposium, pp. 68-75, June, 2000.    [B8] A. Shkel, C. Acar, “MEMS Vibratory Gyroscopes Structural Approaches to Improve Robustness,” Springer Verlag, 2008    [B9] H. Dong, X. Xiong, “Design and Analysis of a MEMS Comb Vibratory Gyroscope”, University of Bridgeport, ASEE Northeast Section Conference, 2009    [B10] N. S. Nise, “Control System Engineering,” The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing, Inc, CA (1991)
The following documents are incorporated by reference herein:    Marepalli, P., and Clark, J. “SugarCube: An Online Tool for Determining Geometry as a Function of Performance of Ready-Made MEMS.” Presented at University Government Industry Micro/Nano Symposium (UGIM) 2010.    Marepalli, P., and Clark, J. “An Online Mems Design Tool That Lays Out And Simulates A Parameterized Array From A Reference Device.” Presented at Microtech 2011.    [B7] P. Marepallil, J. V. Clark, “SugarCube: An Online CAD Tool for Parametrically Investigating the Performance of Ready-Made MEMS” Nanotech 2010, vol. 2 pp. 689-692, 2010.    Li, F., et al. “SUGAR—Cantilever Simulation: Quick Example.” Published online, September 2008.    Li, F., et al. “SUGAR—Cantilever Simulation: Manual.” Published online, September 2008.    Bindel, D., et al, “SUGAR 3.0: A MEMS Simulation Program (User's Guide).” Published online, Apr. 20, 2002.    Buchanan, J. “The GDSII Stream Format.” Published online, Jun. 11, 1996.